ABSTRACT
The growth of the internet has dramatically altered the ways in which individuals use media, and youth are at the forefront of these changes. Generation Y, the nearly 60 million individuals born after 1979, represents the largest generation of young people in U.S. history and the first to grow up in a world saturated with networks of information, digital devices, and the promise of perpetual connectivity (Neuborne & Kerwin, 1999). Although teens overall spend less time online than do adults (for a variety of reasons, including busy school and after-school schedules and the need to share internet access with others), they are much more involved in the interactive and communications aspects of the Internet (Jupiter Communications, 2000; Packel & Rainie, 2001). According to a 2001 study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, for example, among internet users, teens far exceed adults in their use of instant messaging (IM) (74% of online teens as opposed to 44% of online adults), visits to chatrooms (55% to 26%), and playing or downloading games (66% to 34%) (Lenhart, Lewis, & Rainie, 2001). In another study of internet use by young people, one third of college students regarded themselves as internet dependent, and another one fourth described themselves as cybergeeks (Cyberatlas, 2001). As one industry trade publication put it, “Teens and college-age young adults … have not just adopted online technology … [they] have internalized it” (Youth Markets ALERT, 1999, p. 3). In perhaps the clearest indication of a fundamental shift in media consumption patterns, a July 2003 survey of teenagers and young adults revealed that for the first time this age group spent more time on the internet each week than watching TV (Reuters, 2003). All of these trends have made young people key defining users of new media.
